The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-269856, filed Sep. 6, 2001, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rear grip structure in which a rear grip is attached on the hull of a small boat and a seat is placed on the rear grip.
2. Description of Background Art
A jet propulsion boat is a vessel provided with a jet pump mounted at the rear portion of the hull. The engine drives the jet pump to propel the boat by drawing in water from the vessel bottom and splashing water in a rearward direction.
One example of such a jet propulsion boat is disclosed in JP-A-9-281132, entitled xe2x80x9cSPEED SENSOR ARRANGEMENT STRUCTURE FOR A SMALL CRAFTxe2x80x9d. The jet propulsion boat in this publication will be described in detail while citing a part of FIG. 10 of this publication in the following figure.
FIG. 11 of this application is a cross sectional view showing a principal portion of the jet propulsion boat in the related art.
The jet propulsion boat 100 is constructed in such a manner that a shoulder 102a is formed along the outer periphery 102 of the rear portion of the deck 101, and a grab bar 103 is placed on the shoulder 102a and secured by a bolt 104. As such, the grab bar 103 is secured on the deck 101 and the bottom surface 107a of the rear seat 107 is placed on the loading base 106 at the inner side of the grab bar 103.
Since the grab bar 103 comprises an outer handhold portion 103a on the outer side, the occupant sitting on the rear seat 106 can maintain a stable posture on the boat by laying his/her hand thereon.
A gap 108 is formed between the grab bar 103 and the rear seat 107, and in addition, the gap 108 is in communication with the recess 109 formed between the grab bar 103 and the deck 101. Therefore, when seawater enters the boat from between the grab bar (hull side) 103 and the rear seat 107, the seawater tends to collect in the recess 109 formed by the grab bar 103 and the deck 101.
Since a bolt 104 for securing the grab bar 103 on the deck 101 is mounted in the recess 109, the bolt 104 may be soaked into seawater and thus corroded when seawater is pooled in the recess 109.
In order to prevent corrosion of the bolt 104, it is necessary to frequently remove the seawater collecting in the recess 109. Accordingly, maintenance requires substantial time and effort.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rear grip structure for a small boat in which water which has entered between the hull side and the seat can be easily discharged.
In order to solve the problem, the present invention provides a small boat comprising an engine disposed in substantially center of a hull including an upper hull and a lower hull, an opening formed on the upper hull at the portion above the engine, a rear grip extending obliquely from the rear portion of the opening toward the upper rear mounted on the upper hull, and an elongated saddle-riding type seat placed over the opening and the rear grip. The rear grip plays the role of a drain trough in such a manner that the rear grip is formed into a hollow structure. Further, the rear grip is inclined upward and includes a first eyelet at the lower portion thereof and a second eyelet at the portion higher than the first eyelet. With this configuration, water collected on the rear grip is taken into the hollow portion of the rear grip via the second eyelet and then flows down trough the hollow portion and is drained through the first eyelet.
The hollow rear grip is inclined upward and the rear grip is formed with a first eyelet at the lower portion and with a second eyelet at the portion higher than the first hole as needed so that the rear grip plays the role of a drain trough.
As a consequence, even when water enters from between the rear grip and the saddle-riding type seat, water is taken into the hollow rear grip through the second eyelet and then is discharged outside through the first eyelet.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.